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Friday, January 9, 2015

Cooper Responds

If you've followed the unfortunate spectacle of top NYT editor Dean Baquet calling anyone--in this case, longtime West Coast writer and now professor Marc Cooper--"an asshole," here's full reply Cooper just posted on Facebook.

As I am the "asshole" I will now respond to Editor Baquet. If you don't
know what we are talking about see the thread inside the Gawker piece I
have linked to. Since Editor Baquet's public outburst he sent me a FB
message to try and reel things in and put fires out. Hey, Editor
Baquet, don't overestimate yourself. I shook off your petty, childish
and insulting outburst this morning the same way a dog shakes of a
light coat of fleas. Web trolls are a dime a dozen. I had an enjoyable
day at the shooting range with a good friend, we went to a good deli
afterward and had a nosh and we never mentioned you until a couple of
reporters started calling. I'm cool. I think you are the one who is
going to have to deal with his public reputation, not me.

Now.. to the
underlying issue... as to whether or not the Times should have published
the cartoons that led to 23 people being shot and the largest mass
killing of journalists in recent history. I asked Baquet, rhetorically,
exactly how many people had to die to allow him to publish the pix.
Then his silly response appeared. Now, 24 hrs later. and I think this
is the most important point: outside of a small circle friends, Editor
Baquet, nobody gives a flying fig anymore if The New York Times has or
has not published the cartoons. While your papal council was solemnly
discussing this matter, many other outlets including conservative
British dailies, HuffPost, Buzzfeed, Slate, Gawker and myriad other
outlets with tens of millions of viewers had ALREADY published them.
Nobody really needed The New York Times to do it because by the time you
decided not to do it, it was already done by others! Aha, so the world
has changed in the last 20 years and The New York Times no longer
occupies the same position as it did then, fortunately. Indeed, the
decision you made was, at least unwittingly, just how relevant the
NYTimes would be in the international dialogue on this outrage. You
decided to be less rather than more relevant.

And then our generation
of news people knead their hands and wonder out loud why is that young
people do not read our newspapers. One reason is that they don't fully
trust them (good) and suspect what they are reading and seeing is more
mediated than simply "edited." So let me repeat: the Times has already
dealt itself out on this issue and debating yes or no on it today is
nothing short of sophistry. Your stated reasons for not publishing, as
reported in Ms. Sullivan's post, was not only inflated with pompous
obfuscation but also failed the giggle test. At least I hope so... I
certainly hope you are not being authentic when you offer us all those
pious ruminations about not wanting to insult a medieval religious
suspicion that holds the image of somebody so sacred that some are
willing to murder for it. It has been well noted that, when
appropriate, the Times (to its credit) HAS published on several
occasions savagely anti-semitic and anti-christian drawings when they
have become newsworthy. So what's the deal with balking on drawings
that piss off some Muslims? I suspect the real reason is that you, as
editor, do not want to jeopardize the sourcing and safety of your staff
working in Islamic areas. Now, that's a pretty reasonable argument,
even though I made it and not you. I don't agree with that call but I
sure would understand it. I think if you had simply stated that reality
you might have gotten a lot more sympathy and would have sounded more
like an editor rather than a Sunday school teacher concerned not to
incite the believers.

Anyway, as stated above, it no longer matters.
The only question that I think supporters of the NYTimes should be
addressing is, if the Times occupies a very different and diminished
space compared to 20 years ago, exactly what space will it fill 20 years
from now? P.S. A friendly suggestion... when a top New York Times
editor makes ANY public statement, especially in a heated polemic, the
word "arrogance" should be avoided at all costs.

is author of a dozen books (click on covers at right), including the new "THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." He was the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: epic1934@aol.com. Twitter: @GregMitch

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